Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Woodworking (rec.woodworking) Discussion forum covering all aspects of working with wood. All levels of expertise are encouraged to particiapte. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Choosing a combination of sanders
I need to choose a reasonable set of sander types to be able to address
"most" requirements I will have in making cabinets of wood for the home (and sometimes for some metalwork too but lets leave that for the moment). I have more or less decided to begin by choosing the Porter cable 97355 as my "aggressive" sander. Having decided this, what other sander types do I need? Specifically, 1. Do I need a belt sander? 2. Should my "gentle" sander be a palm-grip ROS or a 1/4 sheet finishing sander? 3. Do I ALSO need to have a sheet sander? And if yes, should my ROS need to be variable speed? 4. Does it make sense to have a sheet sander plus PC 97355 and skip the palm-grip ROS? Some opinions would be welcomed! -Ram. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
I use a 3" X 21" Ryobi belt sander, a Ryobi belt/disk sander, and a
Dewalt random orbit sander. Neither of the Ryobi tools would stand up to production shop use but, for my hobbyist shop, they serve well. This covers 98 percent of my sanding needs. The other 2 percent of my sanding is done by hand. I use the belt sander when I need to remove a lot of stock in a hurry. The combination sander is mostly used to remove saw marks on curved edges, like the tops of back slats on Adirondack chairs. I have never felt the need to have variable speed on the ROS. I would suggest that you get one that uses hook and loop paper rather than pressure sensitive. It makes for a lot less cussing in my shop. I have a 1/4 sheet sander that rarely gets used. Dick Durbin |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
|
#5
|
|||
|
|||
wrote in message ups.com... I need to choose a reasonable set of sander types to be able to address "most" requirements I will have in making cabinets of wood for the home (and sometimes for some metalwork too but lets leave that for the moment). I have more or less decided to begin by choosing the Porter cable 97355 as my "aggressive" sander. Having decided this, what other sander types do I need? Specifically, 1. Do I need a belt sander? For cabinets, no. But it's handy when you want to remove alot of material. It's just not a finishing tool, more of a shaping tool. They are really mean nasty and brutal tools, capable of doing serious unwanted damage. Sometimes that's what you want that, but I just don't see it for a basic cabinet 2. Should my "gentle" sander be a palm-grip ROS or a 1/4 sheet finishing sander? Personally, I'm not a fan. I have a 1/4 sheet sander that I never use. When I get past 220 with an ROS, My next step is either a cabinet scraper or hand sanding exclusively with the grain. 3. Do I ALSO need to have a sheet sander? Like a 1/3 sheet sander? no you do not. And if yes, should my ROS need to be variable speed? Handy but not required. 4. Does it make sense to have a sheet sander plus PC 97355 and skip the palm-grip ROS? I would skip the 97355 and go with a palm-grip. I found a Bosch d-handle to be too awkward to use in other than a horizontal appplication. I immagine the 97355 to be worse. Some opinions would be welcomed! Ram, FWIW you seem a little too focused on power sanding. Well-tuned cutting tools should bring you pretty close to a final surface. And even then sanding wil not get you to "the ultimate" surface. You wil need a hand plane or scraper for that. -Steve |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
In article , Stephen M wrote:
Personally, I'm not a fan. I have a 1/4 sheet sander that I never use. When I get past 220 with an ROS, My next step is either a cabinet scraper or hand sanding exclusively with the grain. What? What?? What??? Why would you go from through sand paper all the way to 220 and then switch to a cabinet scraper? I was under the impression that you can go from "raw" jointed and planed wood directly to a scraper. Is this incorrect? (Hope not, that's what I plan on doing...) |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
"Ed Clarke" wrote in message ... In article , Stephen M wrote: Personally, I'm not a fan. I have a 1/4 sheet sander that I never use. When I get past 220 with an ROS, My next step is either a cabinet scraper or hand sanding exclusively with the grain. What? What?? What??? Why would you go from through sand paper all the way to 220 and then switch to a cabinet scraper? I was under the impression that you can go from "raw" jointed and planed wood directly to a scraper. Is this incorrect? (Hope not, that's what I plan on doing...) No, not incorrect. That can/should usually work. But it depends. I recently had to "fix" some really bad tearout by resorting to a belt sander. I found it easier to get things back to a decent surface with an ROS and then scraping to reveal cleanly shorn wood fibers. (really I tried but my thumbs started hurting). FWIW, that was a really messy exercize. I generally consider sanding to be more of occaisionally necessary evil than a way of life. I was concerned that the OP was presuming sanding to be a woodworking mantra. -Steve |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
wrote in message ups.com... Some opinions would be welcomed! -Ram. Compared to most ROS sanders the PC right angle ROS sander that you are looking at is pretty aggressive. No where near a belt sander but it will remove material fast if you want. I have the single speed version and have been using it for about 15 years. That sander and the PC Speed Block finish sander are basically all I use. The Speed Bloc will raise a cloud of dust. It too works very well. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 09:26:55 -0500, "Stephen M"
wrote: 1. Do I need a belt sander? For cabinets, no. But it's handy when you want to remove alot of material. It's just not a finishing tool, more of a shaping tool. Belt sanders are awesome for trimming a cabinet side to a scribed line to match a wall, on site. Much easier than a jig saw, and no risk of splintering a finished edge. And if yes, should my ROS need to be variable speed? Handy but not required. Unless the ROS will ever be used to cut a finish with 220 or 320 discs, then it's more than handy. Barry |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
This is a bunch of extremely interesting opinions! Looks like I will
probably not need the aggression of a belt sander for my kind of work, and I am veering towards a PC 97366 + variable speed ROS combination. Incidentally, I saw and picked up a Bosch Progressor 1587 AVSP jigsaw + free variable speed ROS 1295DVS at Home Depot today, and therefore that seems to have egged me in that same direction! I noticed that PC does not specify the orbit diameter of the 97366. A bit frustrating when you want to compare with, say the 1/4 inch aggressive mode of the Ridgid R2610. Another interesting question: I believe the the Bosch and Makita dual mode sanders, unlike the Ridgid, will actually actively *spin* the disk in aggressive mode. (With most palm ROSs the disk is free-wheeling, and the *spin* is not coupled to the motor.) What about the PC 97366? Is it simply a greater orbit diameter like the Ridgid with a free-wheeling disk or is it an orbit plus actively spinning disk (as in a disk sander) where the spin is motor-driven? I cant find any explicit answer to this. -Ram. |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
On 21 Dec 2004 15:25:25 GMT, Ed Clarke calmly
ranted: In article , Stephen M wrote: Personally, I'm not a fan. I have a 1/4 sheet sander that I never use. When I get past 220 with an ROS, My next step is either a cabinet scraper or hand sanding exclusively with the grain. What? What?? What??? All my sanding and scraping are excusively with the grain. Stephen must have studied with Villa. Why would you go from through sand paper all the way to 220 and then switch to a cabinet scraper? I was under the impression that you can go from "raw" jointed and planed wood directly to a scraper. Is this incorrect? (Hope not, that's what I plan on doing...) I'd rather not put sand against my scraper blade if at all possible. I use a cabinet scraper directly on planed wood, knock off the edges with my low-angle block plane, clean with compressed air and thinner, then go to 220 or finer paper to denib after the first coat of finish dries. -------------------------------------------------------- Murphy was an Optimist ---------------------------- http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
All my sanding and scraping are excusively with the grain.
Stephen must have studied with Villa. So you *never* use an ROS or orbital finish sander? I'd rather not put sand against my scraper blade if at all possible. Is there *that* much grit left from sanding and then brushing off your workpiece? I takes be about 3 minutes to file, grind, lap burnish a scraper... it's just not that big of a deal. I use a cabinet scraper directly on planed wood, knock off the edges with my low-angle block plane, clean with compressed air and thinner, then go to 220 or finer paper to denib after the first coat of finish dries. Me too. Sometimes. It just depends on the amount/type of sruface imperfections for the method I choose. BTW I find the scraper to be my favorite de-nibbing tool. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Combination cylinder woes | UK diy | |||
Sanders | UK diy |